My plan to tweet and take pictures at the Indians game last night was mostly curtailed by the first batter of the first inning when a Jose Tabata foul ball pretty severely jammed and bruised a finger on my right hand. (There are red squiggly lines all over this post as I type it.) Luckily my girlfriend took some shots for me with her camera. I’ll post those here later, but for now; thoughts and impressions:

I met longtime member of the Pirates email listserve Steve Mizer for the first time and believe it or not, he’s a nice guy. We sat together for two innings in the middle of the game. He had GREAT seats literally right behind the plate. Same viewpoint as MLB’s GameDay pitch tracker.

Lincoln looks ready: 6IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K. Fastball was topping out around 95 early, 94 later. Good break on the curve. It was only one game but I don’t see what else he has to learn against AAA hitters. Lincoln was asked after the game if he felt “ready to take the next step?” His answer: “Absolutely.”

Alvarez showed some good and bad. Good: RBI Triple. Well struck. Bad: 2 Ks, still was badly fooled a few time against the lefty pitcher.

Tabata: Injured my finger in the first inning, but my girlfriend got the ball and we both got free Chick-Fil-A. 2/4, BB, 2B, 3B, 2 RS, 2K. Showed good speed on the triple, but I was expecting him to fly, ala McCutchen. I guess that just shows the impressions you form when you don’t get to see guys play very often.

The Indians won 4-0 and everything added up for a great night at the ballpark, even if I had my hand in a bag of ice the whole game.

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[…] more interest to me as a Pirates fan are tonight’s debuts of Brad Lincoln and Jose “I’ll break your finger” Tabata. With Tabata in the lineup and the promotion and success of Neil Walker at second I […]